‘Top Gear’ Recap: ‘Season 28, Episode 4’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 2804 of ‘Top Gear’.
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If there is one thing that truly makes Top Gear worth watching year in and year out, it would have to be the sheer grit that our trio of hosts exhibit. Because every season, they are faced with some insurmountable and incredible challenges, the kind that would motivate a great deal of people to just throw up their hands and say ‘enough’, but that never happens on this show. For regardless of the odds, or the problems that present themselves to the lads, these guys simply don’t give up and for proof, then look no further than what’s happened this season. Because Season 28 has been filled to the brim with difficult road trips, the kind where cars have outright died whilst en route to their epic destination. But that doesn’t stop these guys from reaching the finish line, because they don’t believe that failure is an option.
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But alas, one simply cannot win all the time and after watching these guys accomplish wonders on a weekly basis, they finally tasted a measure of failure in this week’s episode. Because the producers went all in on Freddie’s idea to have, he and Chris Harris take part in the Baja 1000. A race that involves nothing but off-road territory over the course of twenty-four hours and well, the information that Chris and Freddie received from their seasoned guide/coach about the nature of this race should have been a clue as to how rough things were going to go. Because we came to learn that at least one person dies during this race every year and that it outright punishes the cars that enter it. But that ‘can-do’ attitude kept this dynamic duo focused on the task at hand, and they formulated a two-man relay plan to ensure they would finish this race with a solid time under their belt.

But it didn’t take long for trouble to find the team. For right out of the gate, their car simply gave out for a brief moment and after a jump-start, more troubles plagued this off-road vehicle. Because the GPS lost its signal, which made navigation quite problematic on the initial leg of the race. But truly, what made this journey so harrowing, is that the car started breaking down, less than an hour on the road. For the tough terrain caused damage to the gear box. Prompting a lengthy repair, one that required wires to be borrowed from elsewhere in the car and just when it seemed as though the car was finally and properly underway, things went from bad to worse for ‘Team Top Gear’. Because the power steering gave out as well, and once the time it would take to fix all of these issues was properly calculated, the impossible came to fruition. In that, the producers pulled the plug on the race, forcing the lads to return home in defeat.

However, not all was lost. For the plan is to return to the team to the Baja 1000 at a later date and hopefully the next time around will go a little smoother. But it was downright incredible to not see these guys complete their mission, and while it seems as though this episode ends on a sour note, the show found a way to offer up some fun. Because there was still Chris’ Supercar Spotlight waiting in the wings and this week, he made it quite special. For Chris put the Supercar to the side this week, so that he could check out a feisty little Hot Hatch; the Renault Mégane RS Trophy R. A fun and compact ride that is lightweight and versatile, to the point where it was able to outclass a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in a unique lap challenge and it was quite nice to see the lads having fun with this competition since it helped us to forget about that ugly defeat in the desert.

As did this week’s celebrity segment for that matter as well. Since Emilia and Laurence Fox played the average person during this week’s show. Because they were both quite nervous whilst they were behind the wheel on the track and during the speed challenge, and they of course offered up some delightful anecdotes about their experiences on the road. If anything, this was just a magnificent episode when all is said and done. Because seeing the lads lose just adds a sense of humility to this show, and it serves to remind us that sometimes in life, failure is inevitable. Regardless of how well we prepare or how much we know about a particular topic or process and it was nice to see Freddie and Chris handle this with grace and now that this messy end to the Baja 1000 is in the books; we can look ahead to more amazing moments from a series that always finds a way to put a smile on our faces. Until next time.

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(Left to Right) Freddie Flintoff, Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness, discuss the finer points of the Hot Hatch Challenge.